Assessing the impact of climate change on water quality and quantity in the Elbe catchment using an open-data driven approach

Author(s):  
Alexander Wachholz ◽  
Seifeddine Jomaa ◽  
Olaf Büttner ◽  
Robert Reinecke ◽  
Michael Rode ◽  
...  

<p>Due to global climate change, the past decade has been the warmest for Germany since the beginning of climate records. Not only air temperature but also precipitation patterns are changing and therefore influencing the hydrologic cycle. This will certainly influence the chemical status of ground- and surface water bodies as mobilization, dilution and chemical reactions of contaminants are altered. However, it is uncertain if those alterations will impact water quality for better or worse and how they occur spatially. Since water management in Europe is handled at the regional scale, we suggest that an investigation is needed at the same scale to capture and quantify the different responses of the chemical status of water bodies to climate change and extreme weather conditions. In this study, we use open-access data to (1) quantify changes in temperature, precipitation, streamflow and groundwater levels for the past 40 - 60 years and (2) assess their impacts on nutrient concentrations in surface- and groundwater bodies. To disentangle management from climate effects we pay special attention to extreme weather conditions in the past decade. Referring to the Water Framework Directive, we chose the river basin district Elbe as our area of interest. Preliminary results indicate that especially the nitrate concentrations in surface water bodies of the Elbe catchment were positively affected in the last two years, while no significant impact on nitrate levels in shallow groundwater bodies was witnessed. However, many wells showed the first significant increase in water table depth in both years since 1985, raising the question of how fast groundwater-surface water interactions will change in the next years.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
A.I. Kurbatova ◽  
A.D. Dalidenok ◽  
K.Yu. Mikhaylichenko ◽  
E.V. Savenkova ◽  
E.V. Kruglikova ◽  
...  

The impact of Moscow Domodedovo Airport wastewater on nearby surface water bodies, nameless streams which are tributaries of the Gnilusha and Muranikha rivers was investigated. Water quality was assessed by 16 indicators, the Specific Combinatorial Water Pollution Index (SCWPI) was also calculated. The quality degree of the studied reservoirs was determined.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Schmitt ◽  
Henning Schroeder ◽  
Nadine Belkouteb ◽  
Julia Arndt ◽  
Jan Wiederhold ◽  
...  

<p></p><p>An instantaneous assessment of the chemical status of surface water bodies provides the ability to better predict the water quality, react in time, and be able to backtrack sources. Also, it is widely accepted that knowledge of the natural chemistry of surface waters is fundamental for identifying anthropogenic pollution (Menzie et al., 2009). The chemical composition of water bodies is controlled by various factors (i.e. atmospheric, geological, biological, etc.). However, the main impact beside anthropogenic pollution is the geological background (e.g. Filella et al., 2014).</p><p>To monitor and understand the chemical status it is necessary to measure, with the best possible reliability, a wide spectrum of inorganic analytes. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is widely-accepted as versatile instrument in trace element determination due to its low detection limits, fast multi-element ability and wide dynamic range. The appearance of various polyatomic interferences, low analyte abundance and low sensitivity due to high ionization energy are major challenges in accomplishing precise, routine suitable, multi-element analysis to quantify all target elements which often requires complex pre-measurement treatments. The triple quadrupole ICP-MS (ICP-QQQ-MS; resp. ICP-MS/MS) is a promising tool to overcome some of these limitations. Therefore, our aim was to create a multi-element method with about 65 major and trace elements for surface water. In contrast to existing ICP-MS methods, a single-run-measurement of all analytes is envisaged, including also challenging elements like B, C, P, S, Hg, and REE without a pre-concentration or matrix removal step. The development exhibits very low Limits of Quantification for Rhine and Moselle river water (e.g. REE < 10 ppt).</p><p>Our method is based on certified reference material, single element standards (traceable to NIST) and samples from the Rhine and Moselle rivers (Germany). Single element optimized methods were adjusted to the multi-element monitoring purpose. We optimized different collision/reaction cell modes (O<sub>2</sub>, He, H<sub>2</sub>) to eliminate isobaric, polyatomatic and/or double charged interferences and the multi-element calibration cross check for memory effects and uncertainties. Hence, we developed a powerful method for surface water quality monitoring and hydro-chemical fingerprinting adaptable to the specific user requirements.</p><p>Filella, M., Pomian-Srzednicki, I., Nirel, P.M., 2014. Development of a powerful approach for classification of surface waters by geochemical signature. Water Res 50, 221-228.</p><p>Menzie, C.A., Ziccardi, L.M., Lowney, Y.W., Fairbrother, A., Shock, S.S., Tsuji, J.S., Hamai, D., Proctor, D., Henry, E., Su, S.H., 2009. Importance of considering the framework principles in risk assessment for metals. Environ. Sci. Technol. 43, 22, 8478-8482.</p>


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktor Sebestyén ◽  
Tímea Czvetkó ◽  
János Abonyi

We developed a digital water management toolkit to evaluate the importance of the connections between water bodies and the impacts caused by pollution sources. By representing water bodies in a topological network, the relationship between point loads and basic water quality parameters is examined as a labelled network. The labels are defined based on the classification of the water bodies and pollution sources. The analysis of the topology of the network can provide information on how the possible paths of the surface water network influence the water quality. The extracted information can be used to develop a monitoring- and evidence-based decision support system. The methodological development is presented through the analysis of the physical-chemical parameters of all surface water bodies in Hungary, using the emissions of industrial plants and wastewater treatment plants. Changes in water quality are comprehensively assessed based on the water quality data recorded over the past 10 years. The results illustrate that the developed method can identify critical surface water bodies where the impact of local pollution sources is more significant. One hundred six critical water bodies have been identified, where special attention should be given to water quality improvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6565
Author(s):  
Shama E. Haque

Phosphorus is an essential component of modern agriculture. Long-term land application of phosphorous-enriched fertilizers and animal manure leads to phosphorus accumulation in soil that may become susceptible to mobilization via erosion, surface runoff and subsurface leaching. Globally, highly water-soluble phosphorus fertilizers used in agriculture have contributed to eutrophication and hypoxia in surface waters. This paper provides an overview of the literature relevant to the advances in phosphorous management strategies and surface water quality problems in the U.S. Over the past several decades, significant advances have been made to control phosphorus discharge into surface water bodies of the U.S. However, the current use of phosphorus remains inefficient at various stages of its life cycle, and phosphorus continues to remain a widespread problem in many water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie. In particular, the Midwestern Corn Belt region of the U.S. is a hotspot of phosphorous fertilization that has resulted in a net positive soil phosphorous balance. The runoff of phosphorous has resulted in dense blooms of toxic, odor-causing phytoplankton that deteriorate water quality. In the past, considerable attention was focused on improving the water quality of freshwater bodies and estuaries by reducing inputs of phosphorus alone. However, new research suggests that strategies controlling the two main nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, are more effective in the management of eutrophication. There is no specific solution to solving phosphorus pollution of water resources; however, sustainable management of phosphorus requires an integrated approach combining at least a reduction in consumption levels, source management, more specific regime-based nutrient criteria, routine soil fertility evaluation and recommendations, transport management, as well as the development of extensive phosphorus recovery and recycling programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
V. Zaslonovsky ◽  
◽  
N. Sharapov ◽  
M. Bosov ◽  
◽  
...  

The paper is devoted to the development of proposals concerning the improvement of surface water bodies and the appointment of target indicators of the natural waters’ quality. The paper considers a variety of problems of preserving, restoring and improving the quality of natural surface waters: from regional features of the formation of natural water composition, to differences in the requirements for the quality of water consumed. The object of the study is the qualitative indicators of the waters of natural water bodies, and the subject of the study is the methodological approaches to the normalization of these indicators. The purpose of the work is to identify the main shortcomings in the domestic system of rationing the quality of natural waters, and to form appropriate proposals. For this purpose, the following tasks were set and solved: to review the methodological approaches to assessing and rationing the quality of natural waters used in some foreign countries and in the Russian Federation, to identify the main causes and shortcomings; to make proposals for improving the current system of water quality rationing. The result of this work is the conclusions about the lack of impact of the strategy operating in Russia in the development of schemes of complex use and protection of water objects, standards of permissible impact on water bodies, the appointment of permissible discharge limits in terms of maintaining and improving the water quality of natural water bodies. The reasons that led to this are indicated. The necessity of taking into account, in addition to the physical and chemical composition, also hydrobiological parameters is shown. It is concluded that instead of fisheries management standards, environmental standards should serve as the basis for target indicators of water quality of natural water bodies, which determine the well-being of humans and the stable functioning of aquatic ecosystems, taking into account regional factors. Proposals were made to adjust the methodological approaches to the implementation of this strategy. According to the authors, these proposals will speed up the solution of the main objectives of the strategy – the ecological improvement of water bodies, the preservation of unique aquatic ecosystems and the environmentally safe development of territories that previously experienced relatively small anthropogenic impacts (Eastern Siberia and the Far East)


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2509-2512

Catchments are most important for the purpose of practicing irrigation and recharging groundwater by collecting water during the rainy season so that the nearby land will be in surplus quantity of groundwater due to the continues percolation of water from the catchments, even the stored water in the form of catchments will be used as an alternative water source for other requirements apart from the irrigation practices such as for industries and other developmental activities taking place nearby the catchments. Year by year it was noticed that in the world scenario the pollutant concentration is keep on increasing especially water and air pollution due to the excessive load of population that is increasing from the rural to urban areas [10]. Coming to water pollution the major portion of pollution is increasing in the surface water bodies [4] due to various activities like surface runoff, intentionally releasing of untreated effluents from the nearby industries into the catchments [8] and the agricultural runoff etc, whatever the reason there is an immediate need and an emergency to monitor these catchments as the average rainfall is gradually decreasing due to the changing climatic conditions like global warming which leads to the reduced availability of water in the surface water bodies at the other side the existing water is being contaminated [5] by the activities of nearby people. The impact will be severe when the same situation continues in the days to come where the living standards of the people will be decreased at a notable level and the impact will be much more severe on the irrigated land which depends on the catchments. The study has done at Kolleru Lake in west godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Collected Six Water samples from six locations around the lake for analysis [7] and then the results of the analysis compared with Central Pollution Control Board 1979and Indian standards 1982 guidelines for water in the surface water bodies to find out the present scenario of lake water.


2012 ◽  
pp. 149-152
Author(s):  
János Fehér

In the European Region agriculture is the second largest water user after power industry cooling water use. As part of the implementation of Water Framework Directive EU Member States prepared their river basin management plans by the end of 2009 or first half of 2010, In these plans impacts of agriculture on water bodies have received attention. The detailed information elaborated in the plans by countries and river basin districts were uploaded into the WFD section of the WISE system. This database provides opportunity for multi-criteria analysis for different water types. The paper discusses the effects of agriculture on hydromorphological pressures and impacts affecting surface water bodies. It was pointed out that among the pressures affecting European surface water bodies the hydromorphological and diffuse pressures represent the highest ratios (Figure 1). Within the hydromorphological pressures affecting classified surface water bodies the ratio of pressures related to agricultural activities is low,it does not exceed 1% at European level. In case of Hungary the agriculture related river management pressures effect about 80% of the surface water bodies, which is much higher than the corresponding European average. The agricultural water abstractions affect about 10% of the Hungarian surface water bodies (Figures 2 and 3). The river and lake water bodies are impacted in significant ratio by nutrient enrichments and organic material enrichments, while in case of river water bodies the impact of organic material enrichments is also significant (Figures 4 and 5).


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-301
Author(s):  
Peter De Smedt

AbstractThe Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) establishes a framework for integrated water management and functions as a major legal frame for the protection of water bodies in Europe. In the Flemish Region the Directive has been implemented by the Decree of 18 July 2003 on Integral Water Policy. As climate change affects the quality and quantity status of water bodies, the question arises whether the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Flemish implementation legislation are well-suited to handle climate change impacts. Although climate change concerns are not explicitly incorporated in the text of the WFD and the Flemish Decree, this author believes that the main components for an effective adaptation strategy are included in the above mentioned legislation. More in particular, this is achieved by the environmental objectives which have to be elaborated in environmental quality standards (EQS) on the one hand, and the integrated approach on the other hand. Water quality management on the basis of a high level of protection of the aquatic environment is indispensable for adapting to climate change, as ecosystem-based adaptation is most cost-effective. Therefore spatial planning should integrate water quality concerns, as spatial planning may be critical for spatial quality and more specific for the achievement of the environmental objectives. Consequently this contribution focuses on the impact of water quality standards on permit decision-making and spatial planning. In this context some legal instruments anchored in the Flemish legislation on integral water policy will be highlighted, especially the 'watertoets' (translated as the water checkup), which may be useful to facilitate adaptation to climate change.


Author(s):  

The authors developed and presented a method of setting objectives in terms of surface water bodies’ water quality; it was elaborated and specified in accordance with the results of its application at a number of river basins. An algorithm of water/protective measures prioritizing in a river basin on the basis of water quality objectives was proposed. Practical application of the proposed approaches was illustrated by examples from the Scheme of Water Bodies; Integrated Use and Protection for the Ob River basin.


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